Hook fastener



June 9, 1964 A. R. CRUSE 3, 3 8

HOOK FASTENER Filed Feb. 19, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor A .R.C/us&

A ttorney;

A. R. CRUSE HOOK FASTENER June 9, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1962 lnuenlor A. R. Cruse GILQMMJAXQ Attorney:

United States Patent 3,136,018 HOOK FASTENER Adrian Robert Cruse, Orpington, Kent, England, assignor to Thomas Walker Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Filed Feb. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 174,138 1 Claim. (Cl.-24-225) The present invention is directed to a hook fastener for incorporation in waistband assemblies, which consists of a generally S-shaped member having an elongated intermediate limb joined at one end by a bend portion to an outer limb forming a hook tongue and joined at its other end to an inner limb forming a base which extends towards said first-named end of the intermediate limb and terminates in a transverse free edge portion or portions disposed adjacent said first-named end of the intermediate limb, said base, intermediate limb and hook tongue being in substantially parallel planes and overlying the contours of each other.

The term generally s-shaped member as used in this specification and claims is intended to mean that in edge side view, the member has the appearance of three overlying limbs, the intermediate limb being joined respectively at opposite ends to the outer limb and to the inner limb, and being spaced from the outer limb. The inner limb which forms the base, however, may have an open frame construction within the open contour of which are disposed the intermediate limb and outer limb, and in this case said inner limb and the intermediate limb may lie in substantially the same plane.

By way of example, the invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in connection with the making up of an assembly of a waistband of a skirt and an associated hook fastener. In said drawings,

FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4 are respectively a front elevational View, plan View, an end view and perspective view of one form of hook fastener in accordance with the invention;

FIGURES 5, 6, 7 and 8 are elevational views showing successive stages in the formation of the waistband and hook assembly;

FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal section through the completed assembly on line IX-IX 0f FIGURE 8;

FIGURES l0 and 11 are front perspective views of two other alternative forms of hook fastener, and

FIGURES 12, 13, and 14 are respectively a front perspective, rear perspective and plan view of a further alternative form of hook fastener.

The hook fastener illustrated in FIGURES l to 4 of the drawings is conveniently made from an elongated sheet-metal blank which is folded in reverse directions at 1 and 2 to provide a generally S-shaped member having an elongated intermediate limb 3 jointed at one end by the end 1 to an inner plate-like limb or base 4 and at its other end by the bend 2 to an outer limb fashioned to form a hook tongue 5. The three limbs 3, 4 and are all in substantially parallel, spaced-apart planes and overlie the contoursof each other and the base 4 terminates in a straight transverse free edge portion 6 disposed adjacent the end of the intermediate limb 3 which is joined to the hook tongue 5, that is, adjacent the bend 2.

In making up the assembly of the hook fastener and the skirt waistband, the latter is first partially made up as to comprise a substantially rectangular portion or band 7 of waistband material having along its rear face a strip 8 of stiffening material, such as petersham or canvas, the width of which is less than half the Width of said bend 7 of waistband material (see FIGURES 5 to 7). The lower edge of the strip 8 of stiffening material lies along the lower edge of the band 7 of waistband material and ice is attached thereto by a seam of stitches 9 as is also a piece of fabric material 10 forming the drape of the skirt. The material 10 of the skirt drape, however, does not quite extend to the one end 11 of the band of waistband material so as to leave a projecting portion of the latter which together with the associated end portion of the strip 8 of stiffening material is engaged with the hook fastener, as indicated in FIGURES 5 and 6, by being inserted between the base 4 and the intermediate limb 3 so as to be embraced thereby, intermediate limb 3 and the hook tongue 5 of the fastener being presented outwardly on the side of the outer face of the Waistband material. The hook fastener may he slid endwise into this position on the material, as indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 5, until the edge 11 of the latter reaches the bend 1 joining the intermediate limb 3 to the base 4, the hook tongue 5 and intermediate limb 3, extending in the direction of the length of the waistband.

The end portion of the waistband material with which the hook fastener is engaged is then folded over inwardly, into the position shown in FIGURE 7, so that the fold line thereby formed in the strip 8 of stiffening material lies against the tranverse edge portion 6 of the hook fastener base 4, followed by folding over inwardly the upper portion of the band 7 of waistband materal which lies about the strip 8 of stiffening material so that it overlies the lower portion of said band, the end portion of said folded over upper portion adjacent the hook fastener being passed between the hook tongue 5 and the intermediate limb 3 thereof as indicated in FIGURE 8. Finally, the aforesaid folded over upper portion is sewn down along its free longitudinal edge at 12 so that the completed waistband is in the form of an open-ended sleeve within which is contained the strip 8 of stiffening material, the end portion of which is folded back into the sleeve and interlocked with the hook fastener as hereinabove described. Thus, substantially the whole of the intermediate limb 3 and base 4 of the hook fastener is concealed and confined within the waistband, and in use, the pull on the hook is transmitted directly to the strip 8 of stiffening material through the transverse edge portion 6 ot the end of the base 4 which is enclosed in the fold of the strip 8 of stiffening material.

The present invention therefore enables a hook fastening to be incorporated in a 'garment waistband without the need for a positive attachment, such as stitches or attachment prongs for example, and no special machine is required for making up the assembly which is an important practical advantage in large clothing concerns. At the same time, the assembly of the hook fastening and waistband can be neat and strong in use, and the base 4 of the hook fastener also functions in maintaining the shape of the end of the waistband.

In the modified form of hook fastener illustrated in FIGURE 10, the intermediate limb 3a which is joined by a bend 2a at one end to an outer limb or hook tongue 5a is pressed from out of a substantially rectangular sheet metal blank and cranked at its inner end la, the base 4a formed by the remainder of the blank being in the form of two parallel side arms 14 and 15 which terminate in a pair of free transverse edge portions 6a, 6a, corresponding to the edge 6 of the first embodiment.

The modified fastener illustrated in FIGURE 11 may be produced entirely by pressing from a sheet-metal-blank, and in this case the base 4b has the form of an open rectangular frame at one end of which is attached the intermediate limb 3b comprising two spaced arms 16 con nected at their free ends by a transverse bar 17 which is joined by a bend or cranked portion 21) to the hook tongue 512. Both the hook tongue 5b and the intermediate limb 3!; lie within the open contour of the frame forming the base 4b and at the end adjacent the 3 bend or cranked portion 21), the base terminates in a free transverse edge portion 611 which again corresponds to the edge 6 in the first-described embodiment.

Both these modified forms of hook fastener illustrated in FIGURES 10 and 11, and the modified form of FIG- URES 12 to 14, are applicable in exactly the same way in the making up of a Waistband assembly as has been described for the first embodiment.

In the hook fastener illustrated in FIGURES 12 to 14, the intermediate limb 3c is formed from a sheet-metal blank and is integrally joined at one end by the bend portion 2c to the hook tongue c. At the other end, the intermediate limb 3c is joined by clenched-over lugs 20 to the base 4c which consists of an open frame'formed of wire with a straight transverse edge portion 6c adjacent the bend 2c, the ends of the Wire being Welded or soldered at 21 to form a continuous length. Along the transverse edge portion 60 the wire provides a smooth rounded surface for engaging the end of the waistband, and as will be clear from FIGURE 14, the base 4c formed by the wire frame conveniently lies in substantially the same plane as the intermediate limb 30 so that the depth of the device is reduced to a minirnum. It will be understood, however, that the natural resiliency of the wire frame base and of the sheet-metal intermediate limb allows these parts still to be separated sufiiciently to permit of the waistband material being inserted therebetween during the formation of the waistband assembly.

As in all the exemplary embodiments illustrated, the length of the inner limb or base of the Sshaped hook fastener is preferably always slightly greater than the length of the intermediate limb, measured from the point of juncture, so that the transverse edge portion or portions engageable with the end of the waistband is, or are, disposed beyond the bend portion joining the hook tongue to the intermediate limb, thereby ensuring that sufiicient waistband material will be available for substantially complete coverage of the intermediate limb in making up the waistband assembly in accordance with the method of this invention.

What I claim is:

A hook fastener for the waistband assembly of a garment, comprising an elongated plate-like intermediate carrier limb having two parallel side edges and two transverse edge portions, an outer limb constituting a hook tongue and extending over a portion of said intermediate carrier limb in substantially parallel spaced relationship therewith, one of said transverse edge portions being curved and constituting an integral connection between said intermediate carrier limb and said hook tongue, said hook tongue being of shorter length than said intermediate carrier limb, and an open base frame consisting of a continuous wire and having a transverse edge portion located adjacent and parallel to said one transverse edge portion of the intermediate carrier limb, two integral side portions located on opposite sides of the parallel side edges of the intermediate carrier limb and converging toward the other transverse edge portion of the intermediate carrier limb, and another transverse edge portion which is shorter than the first-mentioned transverse edge portion and is located adjacent the other transverse edge portion of the intermediate carrier limb, and lugs carried by the other transverse edge portion of the intermediate carrier limb and firmly engaging the other transverse edge portion of the base frame, said intermediate carrier limb and said base frame being in substantial planar alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 926,775 Schoeppl July 6, 1909 1,008,578 Anderson "Nov. 14, 1911 1,496,706 Friedman et al. June 3, 1924 2,572,126 Falone et a1 Oct. 23, 1951 2,671,901 Friedman Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 519,462 France June 10, 1921 

